Sunday, July 4, 2010

Governed or Oppressed? Part I-A White House Above the Law

The line between being governed and being oppressed is a fine one, indeed, and everyone draws it in a different-sometimes wildly different-place.

One thing to consider is whether the administration continues to play by the rules of government that have been put into law; essentially, the rules we, the governed, have agreed to.

The division of powers says the judicial, executive and legislative branches serve as checks and balances on each other. But only if each plays by the rules:

Interior Secretary Ignores a Judge's Order- Salazar said he would renew the moratorium despite the judge’s decision:
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday called the six-month halt on deepwater drilling “needed, appropriate and within our authorities” in announcing he will issue a new order on a moratorium just hours after a federal judge blocked such a mandate.

Of course, this is after Salazar falsified a document to make it look like a panel of experts, all of whom opposed a drilling moratorium, supported it:

Members of a panel of experts brought in to advise the Obama administration on how to address offshore drilling safety after the Deepwater Horizon disaster now say Interior Secretary Ken Salazar falsely implied they supported a six-month drilling moratorium they actually oppose.
Salazar's May 27 report to President Barack Obama said a panel of seven experts "peer reviewed" his recommendations, which included a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet. That prohibition took effect a few days later, but the angry panel members and some others who contributed to the Salazar report said they had reviewed only an earlier version of the secretary's report that suggested a six-month moratorium only on new drilling, and then only in waters deeper than 1,000 feet.
"We broadly agree with the detailed recommendations in the report and compliment the Department of Interior for its efforts," a joint letter from the panelists to various politicians says. "However, we do not agree with the six month blanket moratorium on floating drilling. A moratorium was added after the final review and was never agreed to by the contributors." 

So when the government can't get what it wants by lying to us, it ignores the judiciary and does what it wants anyway. And the line gets crossed?

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